Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Tony sat alone in a warehouse, surrounded by crates and holographic displays, and waited for Fury to appear. He was still adjusting to the coconut-metal tang that the electrolytes on his tongue took on in response the newer, better arc reactor now dwelling in his chest. On the desk in front of him sat a stack of files, the most interesting of which was labeled, “Avenger Initiative Preliminary Report.”

Knowing it had been put there on purpose to catch his attention, Tony picked it up anyway, too curious not to.

Fury’s hand slammed down on the file. “I don’t think I want you looking at that. I’m not sure it pertains to you anymore. Now this on the other hand is Agent Romanov's assessment of you.” Fury dropped another file into the desk. “Read it.”

Tony opened the file obediently. “Uuuuum, ‘Personality Review: Tony Stark displays compulsive behavior.’” Tony looked up at Fury. “In my own defense that was last week.” Returning to the file, he continued, “‘Prone to self-destructive tendencies.’ I was dying! I mean please, and… aren’t we all? ‘Textbook… narcissism’?...Agreed. Oh, here we go! ‘Recruitment assessment for Avengers Initiative. Iron Man: n-not recommended.’”

Tony paused and absorbed the slap of rejection. “Hm. That’s probably for the best; you can’t afford me anyway. But why invite me over just to tell me I failed the audition for the super-secret boy band? You know that’s not how callbacks usually work.”

Fury sat down across from him. “Mr. Stark, part of the reason I asked you here is to warn you. The job of SHIELD is to monitor and protect against possible threats to the people of this country. That’s the whole reason behind the Avengers project. You hold an awful lot of power, and according to this report, are capable of some extremely erratic behavior. I recommend you take care not to become one of those very threats.”

Tony leaned away, resting an elbow on the back of his chair. “Okay. So it’s just like, ‘If you’re not with us, you’re against us,’ except I’m not invited to be with you. That’s… smart. And if I’m such a threat, why did you even bother making sure I didn’t die?”

Fury heaved a sigh. “International politics are a powder keg right now, and you’ve gone and made yourself the fuse. Puts the world in a very awkward position. You die, and more than a few countries go to war. But you push far enough, and people are going to start pushing back. SHIELD is going to start pushing back. We’re not interested in picking a fight, and that’s why I’m telling you now that there is a line. Don’t cross it, and we should get along just fine.”

Tony nodded, mouth twisting into a tight smile. “Right.”

In the year that followed, the relationship between Stark Industries and SHIELD could best be described as tenuous. There was some exchange of information, and occasionally something that resembled cooperation when a common enemy appeared. There were also some incidents that did not bode well.

On several occasions Tony hacked into various compartments of the SHIELD database. A couple of those times, he even got caught.

There was the time SHIELD employed one Dr. Strange to attempt an infiltration of the Malibu house, hoping to gather a working knowledge of the technology being produced there. The doctor was sent back to SHIELD, unconscious, in a box, wrapped in brown paper, with a lovely little tag that read, “Next time your weirdo lackeys threaten Pepper, I won’t punch air holes.”

Finally, there was the time a gauntlet from Tony’s suit fell off in battle, and was recovered by SHIELD agents. It was sent to a secret research facility in Antarctica, and the search began for ways to make large-scale weaponry from the technology.

Three days later, there was a pile of ash in place of a secret research facility in Antarctica.

Most of the researchers survived, the exceptions being those who ran back into the building trying to rescue the gauntlet. Nick Fury sent Tony Stark a brief email. “That was the line. Do NOT cross it again.”

The reply, “Then don’t take my stuff.”

Tony and Pepper sat together in the penthouse suite, drinking champagne and bantering and celebrating. As of a few moments ago, a prototype arc reactor was powering the building in which they sat. The last of sunlight was falling away from the evening horizon, giving way to Tony’s name, Stark, against the darkening sky of New York.

All was right with the world. Champagne bubbles tickled Tony’s mouth and a beautiful woman was giving him a look that said, you’re adorable, but you’re still in trouble.

“Tell you what,” Tony offered, settling in on the floor next to her and holding up his champagne flute, “the next tower will have ‘Potts’ written across the top.”

Pepper leaned forward and reached her glass toward his. “On the lease.”

Tony playfully tugged his champagne glass back out of the toast. “Call your mom. Can you bunk over?”

Pepper laughed, then leaned forward and smiled wantonly. “What, all night?”

Tony swallowed, but maintained his smirk. “Mm-hm.”

Pepper straightened up and took a disinterested sip of champagne. “I could probably stay for twelve percent of the night. I have a very strict curfew.”

“And why’s that?”

“Well, Stark Tower may be my baby, but Mom seems to think that you were involved, and now she doesn’t trust me with boys.”

“She picked up on that? I thought we gave it such a discreet name.”

Pepper laughed again. “Tony, if there’s one thing you’re not, it’s discreet.” She put down her glass and leaned in again. “We may need to work on that. I could probably teach you a few things.”

“I am very much on board with this plan.”

Their evening continued pleasantly from there without interruption.

Later that night, Loki clutched his abdomen, tender from the impact of being hurled against a rocky mountainside, his pained groan morphing into bitter laughter as he caught his breath.

Thor loomed over him, hammer in hand. “Where's the Tesseract?”

“Oh, I missed you too,” Loki chuckled, still wincing. He was having to recalculate, and quickly. Loki had very nearly decided against his initial plans to arrange a showdown between the Chitauri and the Avengers, but with Thor here, the discarded plan might be viable again.

“Do I look to be in a gaming mood?”

Loki was tempted to ask whether he looked to be in a getting-thrown-against-a-mountainside mood. After all, Thor had no more choice about playing Loki’s games than Loki had choice about being subject to his brother’s violent temper. “Oh, you should thank me,” he taunted, “With the Bifrost gone, how much dark energy did the All-Father have to muster to conjure you here? Your precious Earth.”

Thor dropped Mjolnir and pulled Loki up by the chest of his armor. “I thought you dead.”

Loki thought, I wished me dead. “Did you mourn?”

“We all did. Our father...”

“Your father.” Loki shoved Thor’s hands away and walked past him down the rocky slope, rubbing his back where it was still sore. “He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?”

“We were raised together. We played together. We fought together. Do you remember none of that?”

Loki turned and looked up at Thor. I never stood on level ground with you. You cast me down, belittled me for all to see. Never more than a trickster, never a great warrior like you. And when you left, I learned how deep and how shapeless that abyss was, that all our friends would distrust and betray their king, because their king was me.

“I remember a shadow,” Loki said with honest spite, “Living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss! I who was and should be king.”

“So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights?”

Loki laughed. That really was the question. Was he going to play that particular game, declare that he meant to rule? Act the villain to draw the ire of those who loved this planet, and direct that ire where he thought best?

“No.” Thor took a step forward. “The Earth is under my protection, Loki.”

“And you're doing a marvelous job with that. The humans slaughter each other in droves, while you idly fret. They toy with powers they can’t hope to understand, and they eagerly sacrifice their own to hold onto such power when someone worthy comes to retrieve it from them.”

“You think yourself above them,” Thor accused.

Loki blinked and said obviously, “Well, yes.”

“Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. A throne would suit you ill.”

As if Loki needed reminding of that. He snarled and shoved Thor aside as he stalked back up to the ledge of the mountain. He looked out at dim, rocky landscape beyond and shouted into the expanse of open air. “I've seen worlds you've never known about! I have grown, Odinson, in my exile. I have seen the true power of the Tesseract. And when I wield it...”

“Who showed you this power?” Thor walked toward him again, suspicion creeping into his voice. “Who controls the would-be king?”

“I am a king!” The lie came out as a shout, desperate and false.

Thor took hold of Loki’s armor. “Not here! You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream!” Thor’s voice softened. “You come home.”

For now, Loki decided, the truth. “I don't have it.”

Thor reacted with anger, releasing Loki and summoning his hammer to strike.

“You need the cube to bring me home, but I’ve sent it off -- I know not where.” The trickster shrugged helplessly, starting to enjoy himself as Thor’s fist tightened in anger and Loki regained the advantage of the cooler head.

Thor clenched his teeth. “Listen well brother. If you do not stop this madness--”

“Stop it how, Thor? What do you suggest? Because if you in your infinite wisdom can think of something better to do with thousands of bloodthirsty Chitauri, I am all ears.”

“Don’t bring them to Earth. Send them back.”

Loki laughed. “Of course! It’s so easy! Thor, you have taught me the error of my ways. I am transformed.” Loki’s face hardened, and he spat, “You still think the universe so simple.”

Thor used his free hand and took hold of Loki’s armor again. “You call me simple, and yet you grasp blindly for power!”

“Oh, I’m the blind one? You don’t begin to understand the forces I now control. What they could do, unfettered.”

“I care not for your threats.”

“I don’t threaten.” Then Loki paused, snorted in amusement, and added, “Very well, then. What terrible fate awaits me when I don’t do as you ask?”

Thor hesitated, narrowing his eyes. “What game are you playing now?”

“One with unclear rules and very high stakes. I suggest you end your turn before someone gets hurt.”

Thor redoubled his grip on Mjolnir. “Do not toy with me, Loki!”

There was a sound of polite throat-clearing, and Thor started. The two gods turned to find that Captain America was standing ten feet away, expression one of determination warring with a desire for diplomacy. “I’m Captain Steve Rogers. You’re Thor, correct?”

Thor nodded slightly. “Captain, I have no quarrel with you. But I have business with my brother. Leave us be.”

Steve grimaced. He was sporting a plethora of bruises from the lengthy fight that had ended with Loki’s capture. “With all due respect, I can’t do that. Loki’s killed a lot of our men over the past few days. He’s given the Tesseract to a hostile force, and he’s our only hope of tracking it down again. I think you may be able to understand why we have business with him too.”

Thor kept a tight grip on Loki’s armor, but some of the angry tension eased from his shoulders.

“How about this,” the captain suggested. “You and Loki both come back with me, and we figure this out like reasonable people.”

There followed a brief walk through thin forest and down uneven terrain. The plane was settled in a small clearing where the ground evened out, and a little grass grew around the dark moss that dominated the mountain earth.

Once Loki was contained and in the quinjet again, Thor stood out in the clearing with Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanov, and the three heroes discussed Loki’s plans. Thor explained about the army of Chitauri.

Steve crossed his arms. “If Loki has an army and a way to get them here, three guesses where this is headed.”

Natasha nodded. “The question is, how much have we disrupted his plan by arresting him? He’s here, but where does he want to be?”

“With the Tesseract?” Steve guessed.

“Loki said he knew not where the Tesseract had been sent,” said Thor.

“Loki put some of our men under a spell,” Natasha explained tightly. “It’s with them.”

Thor pressed his lips together in grim shame at his brother’s actions.

Steve said, “If we’re expecting an army, the sooner we know what Loki’s planning, the better.”

“So we interrogate him here,” Natasha concluded. “Thor, any idea what he’s really after? This will be easier if we can offer him something he wants.”

“Loki’s mind is far afield. It’s not just power he craves; it’s vengeance. On me. There’s no other lust would prise this need from him.”

Natasha raised her eyebrows and pulled her mouth to one side. “A lot of people think that...”

“The way Loki was acting in Stuttgart, this is a guy who means to take over,” Steve speculated. “He wants the world to bow the knee, and he doesn’t care who has to die to get it done.”

“Has he ever been a king before?” Natasha asked.

“He ruled Asgard during my exile,” Thor confirmed. “Only briefly.”

Natasha nodded. “People will gun a lot harder to get what they lost than what they never had. It’s human nature.”

“He’s not human,” Thor reminded her. “And after his fall through the void, little remains in him of my brother. Be wary of his schemes.”

Natasha nodded. “Let’s do this.”

The two men followed her into the plane, tracking a little dirt in with them. The inside of the quinjet was all utilitarian angles and black metal. Loki still sat buckled passively into his seat. He raised his eyebrows questioningly at the three, and waited for them to speak.

“We know about the army,” said Steve.

Thor added, “And we know you plan to conquer this word.”

Loki leaned forward. “Then you know a great deal. I’m impressed. I’d be more impressed if what you know were actually true.”

Thor gripped his hammer and took a wrathful step forward, but Natasha stopped him with an upraised hand. “Then correct us,” she suggested to Loki.

Looking around at them, Loki realised how unfeasible his plan had turned out to be. Which meant if he wanted to salvage the situation and escape the Chitauri, he might have to ask for these people’s help.

Oh joy.

Maybe he could find an out. “I have questions of my own. For one, when the Chitauri do come, what do you plan to do about them?”

Steve crossed his arms. “We’re not gonna let it get that far.”

“Again, your words would be impressive were they true.”

Natasha sat down across from Loki, resting her elbows on her knees, nearly mirroring his pose. “You’re saying the Chitauri are coming. So if we’re still wrong about something, it means you’re also saying you’re not here to take over. I might even believe you, if it weren’t for all that ‘kneel before me’ crap in Stuttgart...”

“Yes, the Chitauri are coming. And when they do, who will there be to defend Earth? You and the soldier can’t be the only ones Fury has gathered.”

Natasha ignored him and continued, “...Which leads me to thinking we were right about everything and you’re just pulling our legs. And that you’re worse at lying than your file would have me believe.”

“Lies, I tell quite well,” Loki muttered. “Truths are the trouble. Harder to twist truths to fit inside the small, cramped minds of the gullible.”

“You’re making this out to more difficult than it really is,” Natasha informed him.

Loki widened his eyes in mock curiosity. “Am I?”

“We’ll stop the Chitauri easy enough. All we have to do is...” She paused to shrug her nonchalance. “...torture you until you tell us where the Tesseract is. Then we bring it in.”

“But as I’ve already told Thor, I know not where the Tesseract is hidden.”

She raised a disbelieving eyebrow. “Your whole war depends on the Tesseract. Why would you even let it out of your sight?”

“So that whatever tortures Fury can concoct for me will serve no purpose. A search for a knowledge I don’t actually possess.”

Steve frowned. “Not very smart of you, putting yourself in a position to be tortured just so you can take over our little corner of the universe.”

“No.” Loki pronounced each word pointedly. “It wouldn’t be, would it?” He heaved a weary sigh and added, “This is ridiculous. You are, all of you, no match for the Chitauri.”

“The Chitauri are no match for my will to defend Earth,” Thor declared. “Mark my words, Loki --”

“Yes, we’ve been over your incredible prowess in keeping humans from harm, I think.”

“I will guard them from your schemes. When I first came to Earth, your rage followed me here, and these people payed the price! And now again. If you wish to fight me, fight me, and keep our quarrels between us!”

“This is not simply some quarrel between children!” Loki insisted. “You know not the --”

“No! No more die for the sake of your petty grudges.”

Losing his temper, Loki bared his teeth and nearly snarled the words. “You. Know. Not. The. Forces. At. Work. The power of the Chitauri --”

“You will not bring them here while I protect this realm!” Thor shouted, and his voice shook the metal fuselage around them.

“-- is nothing to power of the one who bade me lead them!” Loki finished doggedly through Thor’s interruption. The he laughed, quite unhappily. “The things you all fear are little. Like children fleeing the dark under their bed, but blind to the killer at the window.”

The air was still ringing from Thor’s outburst, and Loki’s words clung in the space, suspended and disquieting.

Steve spoke. “This ‘one’ who gave you the Chitauri. What can you tell us about him?”

Loki considered before he spoke, and his calculating eyes settled on Thor. “That he is powerful, and bears a terrible grudge against the king of Asgard. And that he is in love with Death.”

Thor’s eyes narrowed grimly as he recognized the description. “I might have known who pulled your strings, Loki. So you would ally yourself with our foulest enemies to take revenge on me, on Asgard?”

Loki closed his eyes and hit his head lightly against the wall behind him, anger deflating to tired exasperation. “Think, for once, Thor. A savage army, controlled by a creature with no love for the Allfather and a distaste for all living things. Where do you think they would have attacked if I’d not led them here?”

“Asgard,” Thor breathed. “Why did you not tell me sooner?”

“Oh, was this meant to be while you were throwing me against the mountainside, or after, when you were ranting about the truth of ruling and insisting that you and I are somehow brothers? You seemed a bit busy.”

Natasha shifted her weight to the side, as if seeing Loki from a slightly altered angle might help her see past his facades. “There’s more to it than that. Why the ‘free from freedom’ schtick? Something changed, but up till now you’ve been playing a different game with us. I’d like to know why.”

Loki gave her a contemplative look, considering twisting her mind around in all sorts of unpleasant shapes, and carefully deciding against it. “The plan was to lead you into a grand showdown, creating a bottleneck to send the enemy through and letting you pick the Chitauri off as they came.” Loki looked around wryly at the three of them, eyes lingering on Steve and his bruises. “But if these really are the mightiest heroes Earth has to offer… you’re going to need more help than I thought.”

Steve was not impressed. “So you just decided to walk in here and use our planet as bait to keep the Chitauri away from Asgard.”

Thor was staring hard at Loki, still trying to make sense of his actions. “Loki, Asgard is better equipped to deal with such an attack. We have armies --”

Loki gritted his teeth and explained the obvious again. “...Which is why the Chitauri won’t underestimate Asgard. I could never convince them to come to the Realm Eternal through a two-mile wide hole in the sky. The disadvantage is too clear. But Asgard, having won the last great war and known a thousand-year peace, will certainly overestimate itself. Earth, at least, is accustomed to war.”

Natasha got to her feet and moved to stand next to Steve. “And that’s your excuse for bringing a war to our doorstep?”

“Would you rather the Chitauri come here after Asgard falls, leaving the Earth no allies to turn to?”

“And just where were you planning to spring this trap?” asked Steve.

“Location will matter in making the invasion look real from the enemy's perspective. I was considering London, or perhaps New York.”

The captain shook his head. “Not an option. Too many civilians.”

Natasha looked up at Steve. “If we’re seriously considering opening this door, we’d better have a way to close it if things get too hot.”

“I’ve had your Dr. Selvig see to that.” Loki glanced pointedly at the box they had locked the scepter into. “If you return that to me, I can use it close the portal, should the Chitauri force prove overwhelming.”

The three exchanged dubious looks.

“How do we know you’re telling the truth?” Steve asked.

“You don’t.”

Natasha sat again, furrowing her brows thoughtfully at Loki. “Then how about this: You give our men back to us as a gesture of good will, and we play your game.”

Loki gave Natasha surprised look, fading to a hint of a knowing smile. You know how little that ‘gesture of good will’ would prove. You would bargain your world for one man?

Watching the question play across his face, Natasha nodded slightly.

“No,” Steve said instantly. “We don’t know enough to make that call.”

“He could very well be lying,” Thor agreed. “As you yourself pointed out, Loki, you’ve changed.”

“True. I have changed.” Loki folded his hands, and there was something insect-like in how his fingers interlaced, like an unconscious echo of the mannerisms and tics of some more insidious thing he’d been too long close to. “I’ve seen the pitiless heart of the universe and the cracked things that inspired reality itself to hate. I’ve been king to traitors and prisoner to worse. But I am still Loki,” he said steadily. “Still of Asgard. And protecting Asgard remains my purpose and my burden.”

The brothers locked eyes for a long time, and when Thor continued to eye him guardedly, Loki went on in a whisper. “Did you really think that I would aid him, knowing that if he grew strong enough, he would one day bring her to harm?”

Thor took a small step back, and the arm holding his hammer finally went slack. Gaze still fixed on Loki, he spoke to the two Avengers. “I believe my brother to be telling to truth. The creature Loki speaks of is dangerous and clever, and catching him unawares is a chance we may not see again. By the time we know more, it may be too late.”

Natasha looked to Steve and said, “I think we have an agreement.”

Loki spoke before the captain could contradict her again. “The spell binding your men to the Tesseract is not entirely mine, but a sharp blow to the head will release their minds. I will bring them to you, and you can do the rest.”

Steve frowned. “So you do know where they are.”

“No. But I know where they will be.”

There were bad days, and then there were bad days, Fury mused, and today was heading in the direction of the latter. He stood on the bridge of the helicarrier and rested a hand against the railing, looked out at the vast sea and sky ahead and worked to project grim confidence for the crew, instead of aggravated frustration.

So far, Fury had seen a SHIELD base collapse with eighty people inside, he’d had some of his best men magically turned against him, and he’d met a mad god who seemed eager to crush the whole human race underfoot. Rogers and Romanov were running late retrieving said mad god, and now Bruce Banner was in the process of explaining to him that finding the Tesseract was a no-go.

“Without more processing power, it’s still going to take weeks. Unless you’ve got a folding-at-home style network available on short notice, by the time I’ve tracked down a location the Tesseract's gonna be gone.”

After racking his brains for any conceivable alternative, Fury spoke. “Hill.”

Agent Hill came to attention.

“Call Stark. Tell him the world is ending and send him everything Dr. Banner has so far. See if he can crunch the numbers.”

Hill went to the one of the screens and made the call. Once in contact with Stark Industries, she was passed from representative to representative, wading through five layers of red tape before finally getting a call open in the same room with Tony Stark, but the man she found herself talking to introduced himself as Happy Hogan.

She started to explain herself for the sixth time, but Tony’s voice called from offscreen, “Who is it?”

“It’s SHIELD,” Hogan replied, “Sounds important.”

“Who, specifically?”

Hill raised her voice and introduced herself. “This is Agent Maria Hill. Mr. Stark, we’re facing a matter of global importance.”

Stark said, “Is she cute?”

A female voice called, “I heard that!”

“Pepper? I thought you were out -- I mean in! I knew you were there. I was just...”

The conversation drifted out of the range of the microphone as Tony walked away without once appearing on the screen.

Hill addressed Hogan. “Tell Mr. Stark he can either get in contact with us or sit on his hands and watch the world burn.” With that, she ended the call.

After several seconds of tense silence, the screen registered an incoming call. A lackey checked it and said, “Director, it’s Tony Stark.”

“Put him though.”

Tony’s face appeared, and abruptly gave Fury a displeased look that tugged down a corner of his mouth. “If you’re Agent Hill, you sound sexier than you look.”

Fury took a breath. “Mr. St-”

“Yeah, yeah, formalities, subtle expressions of hatred, I know the drill. What’s this about the world burning?”

“There’s an object called the Tesseract. An alien hostile has taken it. Now, we need to find the Tesseract --”

“Sir, we may not need to find the Tesseract,” said Steve Rogers, who was just walking into the room, a few steps behind Natasha Romanov.

Tony’s face on the screen grinned. “Captain America lives! Though not for long, if the rumors are true about the lovely lady standing next to you. Natasha, honey, it’s been too long. You haven’t done anything terrible to me in almost a year; that’s --”

Fury tapped the screen and hung up on Tony. “Why not?” he asked the two not-yet Avengers.

Natasha said, “Because the Tesseract might be coming to us.”

“So. You knock over an entire SHIELD base, to steal the Tesseract from us, and now you say you want to give it back.” Fury summed up once Loki had been escorted to the bridge.

Fury, Romanov, Banner, Rogers, Thor, Hill, and Coulson were all gathered around the briefing table at the back of the bridge. SHIELD’s eagle symbol glowed on the walls around them and in the flat surface of the table.

Loki looked around himself cautiously, then settled his attention on Fury, considering his reply. I realized you would be unable to defeat the Chitauri without my help. “I realized I would be unable to defeat the Chitauri without your help.”

“There’s something you seem to confused on,” Fury ground out. “You’re the hostile. You came in looking for a fight, and you’ve done a number on us to make sure you got one. Now you want to buddy up with us against the Chitauri. Don’t come asking for my help when you’ve gone and made yourself the threat.”

“Trust me, the real danger is beyond anything you’ve seen yet.”

“Don’t see any reason why I should trust you. You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can’t hope to control, you talk about peace, and you kill ‘cause it’s fun.”

“Fun? Is it really?” Loki asked with a pointed smile that turned that last accusation neatly back on Fury. He took a seat at the table and cocked his head, awaiting an answer.

Fury crossed his arms and glowered. “Just what reason can you give me to believe a word you say after the stunts you’ve pulled?”

“I have, in effect, already given the Tesseract back to you, along with your men. When the sun rises, you will see that I’ve told you the truth.”

“Sounds convenient. And too easy.”

“Well, you already know what it feels like when I endeavor to make your life difficult. Consider this the other side of that coin.”

Fury gestured to the guards, who came forward to pull Loki to a standing position and lead him away. “When we have our men back and the Tesseract in hand, then we’ll talk. In the mean time, you can sit alone and think good and hard about the relative benefits of war crimes tribunals on Asgard versus Earth.”

“You plan to give me a choice?”

“Hell no.”

The glass door of his cell closed and the guards left immediately without a glance in his direction.

Loki came to rest tiredly against the chipped yellow railings that encircled his assigned cage. This was not the plan he would have chosen. It was precarious and frank. It required him to gain some small measure of trust, where Loki found it far easier to goad and anger and then step back and let the opponent charge at a point just vacated.

He had hoped to pit two sides against each other, play the part, perhaps give Thor a long overdue knife in the back if he was feeling self-indulgent… and then slip away amid the chaos. Cut the threads that bound him, be no one’s tool and no one’s relic.

But escaping the Chitauri was a long game, weaving one sticky web after another, and Loki was hardly surprised he’d gotten himself so tangled up in this one.

It was a temporary problem. Whatever ties he would find fastening him to this realm when all was said and done, it would hardly be more difficult to work free of them than it was to free himself from Thanos. Flung to the viler end of universe, his wits and words alone had gotten him back to the realms of Yggdrasil, and that was a tree he could climb more nimbly than anyone else who nested here.

One more long game, or perhaps two, and he would be free to wander the realms on his own terms.

Now, determined to win the current game, Loki set out to do just a bit of wandering.

Bruce was in the lab, investigating the puzzle of the scepter. They did have all the toys, as Natasha had put it, and Bruce could do just about anything with this kind of technology at his fingertips.

Except maybe find a Tesseract.

If Loki turned out to be lying, any ideas he could scrape together about how to track down the cube might be their only hope. He’d found an interesting fluctuation in the radiation given off by the scepter, and had buried himself so deep into the process of examining it that things like sleep and the passage of time had fallen by the wayside. The sky outside the wishbone window had long since gone dark.

The scepter’s radiation spiked, and Bruce hurried to bring a small handheld scanner near the head of the scepter to track the event.

“Don’t make such a fuss. The scepter recognizes me, that’s all.”

Bruce froze and looked up to find Loki standing in the room with him. He stifled his initial stab of startled fear and gave the god a wry look. “Shouldn’t you be in a cell?”

Loki shrugged briefly and started pacing, choosing his steps carefully as he explained. “Barton arrived at six this morning. Director Fury chose to let me walk free once I returned all that I had taken from him.”

Bruce put down the scanner and leaned back against the wall. “Odd, but… okay. Fury’s got the Tesseract back?”

“Yes, he has.”

“Then I can go.” Bruce started shutting down programs and returning gadgets to their places, displaying every eagerness to be far away as immediately as possible.

“And you’re comfortable with that?”

“Yes,” Bruce said curtly.

“It doesn’t bother you --”

“Look, whatever it is, no thanks. I did my work and I’m leaving.” Bruce finished straightening the lab and made for the door.

Loki picked up the scepter and examined it. “Your government hunted you to the ends of the earth, lusting after a powerful weapon. What will they do with a Tesseract? What have they already done?”

Bruce came to a standstill and dropped his head forward in defeat.

He turned toward Loki to ask what, but his eyes caught a computer screen at the far end of the room displaying the time. “It’s three a.m.”

“Yes.”

“It’s too early for Barton and Selvig to be back. You should still be locked up.”

“And so I am, as far as the security cameras can tell.” Loki set the scepter carefully back on its stand. “Don’t fret; I did my work. I’ll retire to the room Fury graciously set aside for...” Loki stopped, smiled. “Well, I’ll return to my room now. Sleep well, Doctor Banner.”

“Sleep? What are you talking about?”

Bruce woke from a sound nap to find himself sitting hunched forward over one of the lab tables, having drifted off in the midst of examining the scepter. He checked the clock and it read 6:12 am and the sky out the widow was lit with an early morning sun. Bruce swore when he realized he had no way to distinguish whether his conversation with Loki had been a dream. The gadgets he had packed away in the dream were out again, the programs he had closed re-opened.

And it was just like his subconscious to tell him things he didn’t want to know the moment it got free rein. He should leave. The minute the Tesseract was back in Fury’s hands. Before then. He should get out of here before all this spiralled beyond his control. But...

But what was Fury doing with the Tesseract?

Fury found Loki sitting on the blue padded cot in his cylindrical glass cage, looking disgustingly content with his place in the universe. This had all been way too easy, which meant the lunatic had something up his sleeve.

“Director Fury. Do you wish to talk now? You seemed hesitant to finish our conversation earlier.”

Fury paced slowly beside the chipped yellow railings that circled Loki’s cell. “Didn’t want you saying anything to piss people off. People we might have needed working together to kick your ass back to Asgard. The security cameras in this room are off, so you and I can have a private chat.” He stopped walking and shrugged. “Not that it matters much what you say to the Avengers now. ‘Cause it turns out, they can all go home. Barton showed up with the Tesseract at dawn and surrendered nice as you please. Brought along a batch of SHIELD’s most wanted, along with Dr. Selvig. Now I’ve got the Tesseract back and I’ve got you behind glass. That’s just about as well as this could end.”

Loki didn’t move but to smile. “Yet here you are. I take it Agent Romanov informed you of the deal she struck with me.”

Fury nodded. “She did. It was good work. She got you to help us without us lifting a finger to help you. We don’t owe you a thing. You picked our planet to step on; now you get to see what it feels like getting your foot stuck in an anthill.” Fury stepped over to the control panel and flipped a switch, gearing up for a more demonstrative threat. “Way I see it, you could have taken this anywhere and left Earth the hell alone.”

Loki stood and stepped forward. “Without the Tesseract? Hardly. Your work with the cube is what drew the Chitauri and their allies to this world. If you keep it, the door to this planet will remain open, and another invader will come in my place. One who intends to win. It is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war.”

Fury frowned and lowered his hand from the the controls. “We’re not after war.”

“You’ve already waded into one without my help, little as you can see it. I offer you a battle you can win.”

“You'll have to forgive me when I neglect to thank you.” Fury realized Loki was steering the conversation, and internally swore. Giving up the interrogation as a bad job, Fury turned to leave. Maybe Romanov would have more luck, given another go. “Now, I've got eighty condolence letters to sign.”

Behind him, Loki asked. “That many fell when the base collapsed?”

Fury paused at the tone of the words: surprised concern. Instantaneous, and not overdone. Might even be genuine. The best agents used real emotion when they could. There was a crumb of a chance the guy was telling the truth. And that was too much.

Fury turned toward Loki again. “Yes.”

Loki said, “I know of a way to make certain they didn’t die in vain.”

“If you’re still breathing, they died in vain.”

“So will everyone else on this planet if you don’t help me.”

“And what exactly do you plan to do when I say no?”

Loki smiled and faded away, leaving the cell empty.

“Dammit.” Fury made for the nearest console, but the real Loki stopped him, catching Fury’s wrist.

Loki held up the scepter, suddenly in his hand. “If you said no, I would retrieve my scepter. Already, while you thought I was waiting dutifully in that cell, I used it to order Barton to bring the Tesseract back to you. Now, were I to learn that my show of good faith gained me no allies, I would take over your mind. I would slowly and quietly do the same to the entire crew, including the full force of the Avengers, and I would order them into battle against the Chitauri.”

Loki released Fury’s wrist and stepped away, and the scepter faded from his hand, another illusion. “I’d rather not. The scepter is unpleasant to share a room with. Less pleasant and less safe to share a mind. I still hope you and I could work together.”

Fury eyed Loki, antagonistic but measuring. “You’d make a hell of a SHIELD agent, I give you that. If you could prove you’re not out to kill us all.”

“On that, you have my word as a god.” At Fury’s unimpressed look, Loki added, “Ask Thor.”

“Even if I did believe you, I don’t much like the idea of inviting an army of hostiles onto my planet.”

Loki paused a moment to acknowledge the weight of that. “It’s not pleasant, but it’s necessary. If the universe falls, so does the world.”

“I have your word on that too?” Fury asked, not especially credulous of Loki’s claims about the promises of gods.

Loki glanced ceiling-wards in an elegant eye-roll. “If I gave you my word on that, godhood would bind me to bring it about. I’d rather leave a few unlikely loopholes open to me when dealing in the fates of realms and realities.”

Fury thought about it. Loki claimed the universe was in danger. Lies; Thor would confirm that. But if it was true, if the universe really was in danger... “We take out this army, that’s doing you a big favor. Earth would expect something in return.”

“Gods sometimes wager boons for the good work of mortals. If you can arrange a formidable opposition for the Chitauri, I will owe you a sizable favor, Director.”

“Well. You would make a good SHIELD agent.”

“No,” Loki said flatly.

“You agree to work under me for a few years, and we might just have a deal.”

“Two boons. That’s more than any mortal has ever won from me.”

“I’m not haggling for boons. Don’t know what they are. Never seen one before. For all I know a godly boon ain't worth a goddam yen. Missions, I’ll take. That means I send you out like I would any one of my men, and you follow orders and do your very best to succeed.”

“The fate of the universe, of all reality is at stake. Still you bicker over the currency in which I pay you to prevent it?”

Fury clasped his hands behind his back. “Well, considering you haven’t said yes, I guess that’s one thing you and I have in common.”

Loki’s lips twitched in the barest hint of a smile, but his voice was cold. “You still don’t believe me. Ask Thor.”

Pulling against resistance.

Oh. Restraints. Probably for the best.

“Clint, you’re gonna be alright.”

“You know that? Is that what you know?”

Fury returned to the bridge and spoke to Thor, who assured him that gods were indeed bound to keep their word, that Loki’s story was quite plausible, and that it was, in fact, exactly like Thor’s younger brother to use infuriating and roundabout means to go about saving the universe.

From there, Fury called Coulson and Rogers to the bridge and they discussed possible locations for the invasion. They settled on Hunter’s Point, an abandoned naval yard on the coast near San Francisco. It was easy to clear out on short notice with the right military clearance, and had enough housing to look like a real invasion instead of a military setup.

Coulson slid a file over to Fury, blocking the glow from one of blue panels in the surface of the briefing table. “We can get a small reactor moved to the area, but we’ll have to ask Selvig if it’s powerful enough to jump-start the Tesseract.”

“I see plans are well under way. How soon do we start?”

A lot of guns went up when Loki walked into the room, but Fury looked at Loki with more irritation than anything resembling shock and immediately looked down at his file again. Most of the agents took that as a cue and lowered their weapons.

“Sir?” Hill inquired, still training a pistol at Loki’s head.

“I don’t care if you shoot him. Wouldn’t do much, from what I’ve seen.”

Hill holstered her weapon, and Loki smiled gratefully as if it were a courtesy.

Fury looked again down at the map, running the logistics through his head. “Loki, how long do we have to set this trap?”

Loki stepped up to the table. “Not long. The invasion was planned for today. If it’s delayed, the Chitauri’s ally will suspect a trap.”

Fury nodded. “Coulson, get a jet ready and brief Selvig. We’ll need him on site, on the off chance we go through with this.”

Coulson nodded and left. Loki turned to Fury and crossed his arms thoughtfully. “And what still prevents you from going through with this?”

“The fact that you suggested this plan is enough to make it stink to high hell. But that’s not your first problem. This mission isn’t happening unless the Council gives it a green light, and that’s not a probability.”

At that Loki smiled, turned and strolled uninvited onto Fury’s office, where he started clicking through the displays. “Allow me, Director. This will be the easiest conversation I’ve had all day.”

Fury glared at the back of Loki’s head, but followed him and closed the door after them.

He turned to Loki and found that the smart motherfucker had already figured out how to put a call through to the council, and was waiting for them to pick up. The four council members appeared, each on their own looming screen, and the first said, “Director Fury, what do you have for us?”

Then the four word leaders noticed Loki, and their expressions darkened. The man on the far right screen leaned forward. “Director, what’s the meaning of this?”

“The situation has become even more complicated,” Fury began. He made introductions, and then Loki began his explanation.

Out on the bridge, Steve walked over to Bruce where he leaned unobtrusively against the wall near the door.

Steve said, “I guess you’ll be heading out now that Fury has his cube back.”

Bruce sighed. “Yeah. About that.”

Steve looked at him inquiringly.

“The Tesseract. Fury’s story about what SHIELD is using it for. Something doesn’t add up.”

Steve glanced back at Fury’s door, then put his back to the wall next to Bruce and settled in to listen. “Tell me.”

Pulling against resistance.

“I got -- I got a window. I have to flush him out.”

Clint eased out of the draw, let his arms relax and the restraints go slack as burning red mutiny and the sharp black-on-white of ordered kills finally faded and gave way to the plain, functional grey of the helicarrier walls.

Natasha stood a little to his right, pouring a drink from the water pitcher. “You gotta level out. It’s gonna take time.”

“You don’t understand.” He twisted his head at an uncomfortable angle to look her in the eyes. “Have you ever had someone take your brain and play? Pull you out. Stuff something else in. Do you know what it’s like to be unmade?”

Natasha looked right back. “You know that I do.”

“Why am I back? How’d you get him out?”

“Cognitive recalibration.” She walked past him and took a seat a few inches away on the cot. “I hit you really hard on the head.”

“Thanks,” Clint said. Thanks didn’t really even cover it. She didn’t answer, instead unclasping the restraints from his wrists. Which must mean she trusted that he was back. That he wouldn’t… “Natasha. How many agents did I --?”

“Don’t,” she interrupted. “Don’t do that to yourself. This is monsters. It’s magic, and it’s nothing we were ever trained for.”

“Monsters?” He latched on to the distraction as soon as she offered it. Something to hate that wasn’t himself. “What sort of monsters?”

“Did Loki tell you what he was planning?”

“Didn’t need to know. Didn’t ask. He’s gonna make his play soon, though. Today.”

“There’s an army of aliens called the Chitauri,” Natasha explained. “Says he aims to get rid of them.”

“And you believe him,” Clint stated.

“His story checks out.” She raised an eyebrow. “But I was wondering what you could tell me.”

Clint shook his head. “Selvig knew more than I did. He was planning to use it for something. Needed a lot of rare materials. Then suddenly the plan changed. Loki ordered us all here. Let us go. Was weird, but we didn’t question it.”

“Doesn’t contradict what he’s told us.” She sighed and stood. “Loki’s of a mind to spring a trap for the Chitauri. Bring them here and have opposition set up. And I’m gonna help him. When the army hits, I’ll be in the fray.”

“You?”

Natasha faced him, arms crossed, wordlessly inviting him to speak his piece.

“You’re a spy, not a soldier. And now you want to wade into a war? Why? What did Loki say to you?”

Natasha looked away. She shrugged and sat down next to him again. The words were harder to say than she had realized, and she stared intently at the opposite wall while she spoke. “I’ve been compromised. Made a deal I shouldn't have. I‘ve made a lot of those.” She looked at Clint. “I’m gonna see this one through.”

Clint looked at her for a long time, and finally reached for his bow. “Well, you won’t be seeing it alone.”

Natasha’s eyes widened when she took his meaning. “We’ll be fighting next to Loki. You sure you’re okay with that?”

“Well, if I put an arrow through his eye socket I’d sleep better, I imagine. But that can wait. I’m not gonna let you go it alone when you’re paying the price for saving me.”

“How did you -”

“Natasha.” Clint gave her an I know you look.

She gave up. “Fury’s on the bridge planning the next move.”

Clint washed up and they went to join the party.

When they arrived at the briefing area, Banner was just walking out of the room, followed by a solemn looking Captain Rogers. Once they were a ways down the hall and out of hearing range, the scientist and the super soldier exchanged concerned words. Natasha briefly considered following them, but Clint shook his head and said, “We’ve other things to deal with. Where’s Fury?”

“He’s in his office, talking to the council,” Hill answered. “Loki’s with him.”

In Fury’s office, the council members stared at Loki with disgust and every kind of disbelief. Loki had listed the circumstances, and his plan to deal with them, and now he waited for a reply.

On the second screen from the left, a council member cleared his throat. “You claim that this alien army will destroy the universe, unless we allow it to attempt an invasion of our planet?”

Loki tilted his head. “It’s more complex than that, but, in effect, those are the long term results.”

“Do you have any evidence to support this claim?”

Loki looked down and smiled, visibly quenching a laugh. “Evidence. Well. I don’t have any evidence so conclusive as, say, an antique self-winding wristwatch with black scuffs on the clasp.”

Unable to make sense of this, Fury gave Loki an are-you-really-that-insane frown.

But the council member on the far left screen responded to Loki’s words by wincing back in horror. Then he leaned in and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Loki just kept speaking. “And I don’t have the testimony of a… very young male prostitute currently living in Philadelphia. That would be... compelling, don’t you think?”

Another council member, another wince.

The man on the far right spoke up. “Loki, the idea of doing as you ask is preposterous. In the past two days, you have stolen a valuable object from the United Nations, killed over seventy agents, and threatened the entire human race.”

Loki grimaced and inclined his head. “My apologies. I ultimately hope to prevent the destruction of this world. My actions seemed necessary at the time; I hope you can sympathize. Though naturally, none of you have skeletons in your closets. Nor in your garages...”

The woman second from the right inadvertently tightened her hand on her pen.

“...Nor other places more recklessly near to hand,” Loki finished.

The final council member's eye flitted nervously to a point offscreen, then back to Loki. “Well, of course if this is matter of global security, then we all want to be proactive in handling that.”

“Any help you can give will be welcome,” the woman concluded, putting down her pen, and the rest of the thoroughly blackmailed quartet nodded their agreement.

Loki smiled graciously. “Glad to be of service.”

The council members ended the call, and the four screens went dark. Loki turned to Fury. “There’s nothing so comically sad as kings who guard their secrets closer than they guard their thrones.”

Fury's eye regarded him without humor. "'Cept maybe a king with no throne and a whole hill of pissed-off ants crawlin' up his leg. If you think that little stunt with the Council is enough to make the Avengers fall in line, you’ve got another thing coming."

"Natasha Romanov will follow me," Loki pointed out. "And Selvig has seen too much of the forces beyond the worlds to disbelieve me. Banner is simply a problem of very careful timing…."

"Banner's leaving."

"Not yet," Loki corrected lightly. "As for the rest -- Barton, Rogers, Hill, Coulson, the rest of SHIELD -- they'll most likely follow your lead. And you’ve had time to consider your options, namely that no course of action but helping me is likely to end well for anyone. So, Director Fury, I find I have no choice but to lay the decision at your feet. How will the universe die?"

A long silence followed, and when Fury broke it, he did so with with a half-defeated sigh. "Awful pretty question you got there. Fuckload nicer than, 'Will you help the nut who killed your men?'"

"But you have an answer for me."

“First, you’re gonna give me your word that this really is the best shot we have at protecting Earth.”

Loki mostly stifled a victorious smile. “I give it.”

“Second -- ”

Loki interrupted him, annoyed now. “Why do you insist on drawing this out when you know what must be done and what the stakes are?”

“Because stakes or no stakes, I can still choose not to help you. And after what you’ve done to my men, I like the idea of making you dance a little.”

Loki pressed his teeth together dangerously.

“You’re going to come work at SHIELD for a while. Work off your debt to society like any other delinquent. Or we can just keep that door closed and let the Chitauri go wherever else they might like.”

“One mission,” Loki conceded.

“One year.”

“Consider the risks inherent in keeping me on Earth that long. Three missions, under your employment. No more.”

“And after that, you get off my turf and slink on home.”

“Agreed.”

“Your word.”

“You have my word.”

They stepped out onto the bridge again and Fury looked around. “Banner’s gone?”

“Nope,” Natasha said shortly.

Clint added, “Banner and Rogers went for a stroll a few minutes ago. Looked to be quite the conversation. Guess they found some common ground worth investigating.”

Coulson arrived and said, “Sir, your jet is ready. Selvig is on board.”

Fury nodded and walked toward the door. “Hill, Barton, Romanov, Thor, Loki, Coulson, you’re with me. Williams, take command here. Tell Rogers to meet us at the jet.”

They suited up for a fight and gathered in the jet.

“Where’s Rogers?” Fury asked when Steve was the last to appear, but no one had an answer for him.

“Should we leave without him, sir?” Clint asked from the cockpit.

“No,” said Loki sharply.

“Wasn’t asking you.” Clint went back to checking instrument panel.

Fury pressed a button for the intercom. “Williams, where’s Rogers?”

“I don’t know, sir. He must not have heard our broadcast. Tracking him now.”

It was then that Bruce and Steve walked into the jet. Steve was carrying a piece of Phase 2 hardware, which he threw down on the floor.

The two looked at Fury and crossed their arms, silently demanding an explanation.

Williams’ voice on the intercom said, “Computer says he’s there.”

“Just arrived,” Fury explained, and turned off the intercom.

Natasha nudged Clint commandingly and Clint started up the jet.

“No,” Bruce said quietly as the door locked and the engines started up. “No, no, no, no, no.” He tried the door, and when it didn’t open he took a step back and shook his head. “You’re kidding me.”

Bruce forced himself to calm as the jet found its course and accelerated, leaving Steve the task of shouting at everyone. “Did you just lock Dr. Banner in a confined space with eight people?!”

Natasha glanced worriedly between Steve and Bruce. “Rogers, you may want to consider stuffing a sock in it.”

Coulson looked briefly scandalized at Natasha’s lack of deference to to the World’s First Superhero, before he recalled and re-affixed his unflappable persona.

“You know what I think?” Bruce asked darkly. “I think he may want to know why SHIELD’s been using the Tesseract to make weapons of mass destruction.”

Loki smirked. Thor frowned at Fury. “Is this true?”

Fury looked back, grim and uncomfortable.

But Banner was too agitated, and Loki turned the conversation to something the scientist’s mind could latch onto for distraction. “Dr. Selvig, I understand there is some question as to the available reactor and whether it has sufficient power to trigger the Tesseract. How much energy does the task require?”

There was a pause as everyone silently agreed that a change in subject was the only safe option, and then things went technical for a while. Once Selvig and Bruce had hashed out how the task could be accomplished with the available tools, the conversation turned to strategy, Hill, Coulson and Thor debating positions and numbers and routes of retreat.

It was Barton who interrupted with, “Why go to the trouble? Why even let them come through?” Before Loki could give him an irritated answer, the archer added, “Send a nuke. Close the door before we get any splashback. Takes out the army in one go. Simple.”

Loki stilled, and silence fell all around.

He’d not thought of that.

Why had he not thought of that?

Perhaps for the same reason he’d tricked the frost giants into Asgard, Thor into Jotunheim, and Laufey into Odin’s chambers. For the same reason he’d not imagined the Bifrost as a weapon until Heimdall had spoken of destroying Jotunheim. It was too blatant, too much like getting his hands dirty. Loki was very willing to make the simple, head-on attack when he knew the situation called for it, but it ran against his instincts. And now an obvious solution had flown past him unseen while he was busy racking his brains for ways to talk the Chitauri into destroying themselves.

“Damn,” Loki said aloud.

“Don’t like Barton’s plan?” Rogers inquired, suspicious.

“I don’t like the timing. It’s too late to steal a missile even if it were easy, and I didn’t arrive in this realm with time to arrange to build one.”

“Ask the Council,” Romanov suggested.

“You do have them marching to your tune,” Fury agreed, not at all pleased about it.

“Too late, again. They’ve had time to stop panicking about my ability to blackmail them and start panicking about how much power they’ve resultingly handed me.”

Rogers stepped forward. “Wait, you blackmailed them? That’s why we’re all on this ride?”

“No,” said Bruce. “We’re on this ride because SHIELD looked at a dangerous, volatile force and saw a weapon it couldn’t resist.”

Selvig muttered, “Well, this’ll make for a fun five hours.”

Five discordant hour later, they arrived at the San Francisco Naval Shipyard. Their request to the Council had been predictably refused, and plans to fight the Chitauri were well in place, though not accompanied with the unifying, single-minded hatred Loki would have preferred to inspire in Earth’s Mightiest.

Bruce walked off the plane with his arms tightly crossed, his self-control all frayed around the edges but still intact. Loki watched the hunted body language with self-satisfaction. He had been carefully defusing the argument every time the Hulk came too close to the surface, only to let it gradually boil up again, leaving the scientist on edge and very much ready to lose his temper the moment someone pushed far enough.

Everyone left Bruce to walk peacefully in the direction of Elsewhere while things were put in place for the battle and Selvig convinced the Tesseract to open a doorway to somewhere Much Worse.

The moment everything was ready, SHIELD cars were speeding to surround and trap the retreating scientist, and Loki and Natasha stepped out, along with a small legion of SHIELD agents.

Bruce looked at the agents surrounding him, then looked down and laughed a truly miserable laugh. “Yeah. It was always gonna end this way, huh?”

Natasha spoke up. “You can’t be feeling an overabundance of control, Bruce. You’re trapped here, people you don’t trust, unfamiliar setting...”

Bruce looked around and giggled a little disbelievingly. “Actually, I think I saw an episode of Mythbusters that was filmed here.”

Loki rolled his eyes. “Romanov, you are not helping.” He simplified matters by sending a bolt of magic at Bruce that neatly ran him through, a deadly shot if the target had been human. The move lacked finesse, but it did the job. Bruce hit the pavement hard and started transforming.

The portal opened and the Chitauri came flooding through, and then battle hit with chaotic force.

It went on for hours. Hawkeye ran out of arrows five times. Hill and Black Widow went to some daring lengths to help him restock. The rest of the time, the two women fought on the ground beside Rogers.

Loki played a cat-and-mouse game with an increasingly frustrated Hulk, sending out clones and positioning them so that there was always a mess of Chitauri standing between the Hulk and the object of his rage. The Hulk plowed his way through all offending creatures, each time reaching his destination only to find that the puny god had disappeared or moved.

Coulson unpacked a terrifyingly large gun that shot fire and destruction, and did his share of damage before a group of Chitauri managed to corner him near one of the housing developments and disarm him. When Romanov helped him off the battlefield and into an evacuation vehicle, he was sporting a broken leg and a nasty concussion.

By the time it was over, the naval yard was transformed, wrecked by the Hulk and piled with the bodies of Chitauri and Leviathans. Dead tired and smattered with bleeding cuts and a few minor sprains, the victors stood on a stretch of asphalt at the center of chaos and took in their handiwork.

The aliens’ unfortunate philosophy of battle had kept them charging through the portal long after the fight was clearly lost, the fight ending only when the Other leading them realized he had been tricked. By then nearly a third of the alien army had come through to their death, enough to make the Chitauri a far less serious threat to Asgard. And a pretty grim body count to see laid out. Natasha and Loki were composed enough, but Steve and Clint both looked somber, and maybe a little ill.

Thor spoke to assuage their discomfort. “The Chitauri are not sentient as you and I understand it. They are a simple people, who do not think as clearly nor feel as deeply as we.” (This actually had the effect of making the other Avengers more uncomfortable, not less.) “Well fought, my friends. I will return shortly.” And Thor wandered off without further explanation.

Natasha sat. Steve and Clint followed suit, and didn’t even come to attention when Fury arrived. Nor did they move when Bruce reappeared in a scavenged pair of trousers, with a lot to say. The scientist was -- well, furious was the wrong term -- but disappointed with the way the SHIELD agents had used him, and made it clear before his disappearance that he would not come in willingly next time.

It was about an hour before Thor returned, walking straight up to Loki with the Tesseract in hand, the cube stored in a container of non-Earth origin. No one was really sure where he had been hiding that, but wherever it had come from, the thunder god held it up and presented one end for his brother to take hold. “Come along, Loki. It is time we return to Asgard, where you will face the consequences of your actions.”

Loki took a step back. “Now that is an invitation it saddens me to decline. But you see, I have a bargain with Director Fury here that would be difficult to fulfill away from Earth. Inconvenient, I know.”

Thor glared at Fury, and Fury glared at Loki.

“Loki,” Thor growled. “If you will not come willingly --”

“Would you make an oathbreaker of me?” Loki challenged sharply, raising his chin.

Thor’s hands clenched and unclenched as he stared down his brother, considering his options. “When your bargain is fulfilled, you will return to Asgard.”

“I make no promises.”

Thor looked down and worked his jaw, holding back a wave of anger that would not help him. “Then I will come for you when the debt here is settled.”

Loki lifted his eyebrows. “Don’t wait up.”

So Thor returned to Asgard, and Loki remained on Earth.

In a prison cell deep in the basements of a SHIELD facility, Samuel Sterns was thinking a great deal. He was thinking about revenge, and he was thinking about creating new life, and he was thinking about science. But most of all, he was thinking about escape.

And with an epiphany and a smile, he thought, SHIELD never did get a contract to replace those Hammer-Tech security cameras.

At the same time, high up in the New York skyline, Tony Stark was thinking about weapons.

Loki’s first mission for Fury was to thwart and capture an escaped prisoner of SHIELD, a man once known as Doctor Samuel Sterns. Now the man went by “The Leader” and commanded an army of plastic beings. His strategies were informed by a near-prophetic ability to calculate odds, and motivated by a hatred of SHIELD and any other governing body inclined to hinder his research.

Why, Loki thought to himself, is it always San Francisco?

He and the other Avengers -- Loki, Rogers, and two assassins -- were fighting hard against a mass of unthinking plastic in the more industrial section of the city, and they were decidedly losing. It was frankly embarrassing, with the press taking pictures from much too close for their own safety or Loki’s pride. He had taken on gods and worlds, and one little scientist was foiling his every trick with a little radiation-enhanced insight.

Doing his best not to think too hard about what he was doing -- not to pick out the most reasonable plan -- Loki turned himself and his teammates into mice and they all scurried a retreat into a nearby industrial building and up onto the roof. It wouldn’t buy much time. The Leader had already caught on and the plastic beings were climbing the walls toward them, but no trap was waiting for them where they stood and the four had half a minute to breathe.

Loki sat, struggling to do just that. He had made good use of spells and tricks to bring down more of the plastic creatures than the other three combined, but the opposing force was too big, and his endurance was waning.

Steve put a hand on the railing and looked down the wall at the plastic people. “We need a new approach. He knows everything we’re going to do before we do it. I don’t see how this could get much worse.”

Clint shook his head. “You’re the world’s first superhero, and you don’t know better than to say that?”

Natasha was taking the moment of quiet to move some of her weapons to the more easily reachable sheaths and holsters she had emptied during the fight. “At least Sterns didn’t steal any Starktech. That would’ve made for a bigger headache.”

“It might have gotten Stark fighting on our side, though,” Steve pointed out.

“That’s what I meant. I’m just as glad not having Iron Man for an ally.” Natasha gritted her teeth and pulled a big shard of plastic out of her leg. “Guy’s impulsive, selfish and flashy. He’s the type gets people killed, no matter whose side you’re on. A pissed off Tony Stark is the last thing anyone needs at a time like this. Sterns must have known that too.”

Loki blinked and stood. “Miss Romanov, I believe you’ve given me an idea.”

“What?”

“Something impulsive.” Loki grinned, feeling almost young for the thrilling recklessness of his plan. “And flashy.”

He didn’t get to use it, though. A moment later, the army of plastic went still, and Samuel Sterns himself walked up the street below to to look at them from amid the wreckage, hands raised in sheepish surrender. “Okay, okay!” He called. “I’m turning myself in. No tricks, I promise! You, mister, play very dirty,” the villain accused, pointing a finger at Loki without lowering his hands. “I don’t like your plans at all.”

Loki snorted and leaned forward to call down a reply. “You’ll forgive me if I consider that a compliment.”

“Loki,” Clint said, “Now might be a good time to let us in on the joke.”

“Doctor Sterns is aware of all the possible outcomes,” Loki explained, gracing The Leader with the smuggest of smiles. “He understands exactly what his options are, even more clearly than I do. He’s seen the wisdom of surrendering.”

“What changed?” Steve asked.

“Loki came up with a plan,” Clint said. “That’s all it took. Loki came up with a plan, and it changed the odds enough that The Leader gave up without a fight. It’s over.”

There was a collective glance at Loki, part awe, part a distrust he was more than used to: the discomfort of those who were used to fighting their own battles and didn’t understand the machinations by which they had been saved.

“What was the plan?” Steve finally asked.

“Is it relevant?” Loki asked tiredly, beginning to feel the weight of exhaustion from the battle. “You have your man.”

They arrested Sterns without incident, and that was the end of the matter.

For the strained relations between Stark Industries and SHIELD, the last straw fell one spring evening, in a near-deserted R&D floor of Stark Tower, when a young scientist working in the tower came across the plans for a new device and the applications being considered for it, and quietly made the decision to go to the police.

The police called the FBI. The FBI called Fury. Fury called Tony and said, “We have a warrant for your arrest.”

To which Tony replied, “For which?” paused, and clarified, “I mean, uh, what did I do?”

“Project ‘TIDY.’ You and Virginia Potts are both wanted for conspiracy to commit treason.”

“TIDY is your problem? Wait, nevermind that. You want to arrest Pepper too? You have to know that’s not going to happen.”

“I know nothing of the sort. Now, if you take my advice, you’ll both turn yourselves in before this gets any uglier.”

“Hmm.” Tony tilted his head thoughtfully. “No thanks, Nick.”

“Mr. Stark, this is not a game.”

“You say that, because you’re going to lose,” Tony said, and hung up. “Jarvis, fill in Pepper. If she’s out, get her here as soon as possible. And bring up the designs for TIDY. We may have to rush these to a broader application than I thought.”

Loki sat in Fury’s office and awaited briefing on his next mission. The newspaper on the desk read, “Strange Superhero Saves San Francisco From Silicone Army.” Loki hoped his next mission would be as brief as the last. He’d been starting to enjoy all his free time, and the chance to soak up the primitive but entertainingly bizarre local culture.

Fury handed him a briefing file, which Loki flipped open and started reading. “You want me to infiltrate Stark Industries? Toward what end?” How long was this going to take?

“Project called TIDY. Our informant warned us it was a global threat, but was unable to bring us detailed files on the technology. Your job is simple. Break in, steal the plans in as comprehensive a form as possible, and bring them here. If you can trick or magic any high level Stark employee onto your good side, this should be smooth and simple.”

“What is the nature of the project exactly?”

“You don’t need to know that. You don’t even look at the contents of those files unless it proves necessary to complete the mission. At this point, the fewer people know this technology exists, the better. Any more questions?”

Loki smiled a little. “Nothing you’ll answer.”

“Good. Dismissed.”

Tony was sitting on a swivel chair in the eye of a cyclone of holographic displays. Pepper sat on the sofa nearby, buried deep in news reports and personnel files, watching for public statements released by SHIELD, compiling lists of who would need to be let go, and which employees they could trust to stay loyal through the oncoming storm.

She had contacted Fury earlier and endeavored to make nice -- “Director Fury, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I hope we can clear all this up.” -- and found no headway. The conversation had ended ten minutes later on much less pleasant terms. “Director, you can take your 'last straws' and your 'risk management protocols,' and shove them all up your over-paranoid assessment of the situation!" And she had hung up, leaving herself and Tony exactly where they had started.

Now the two outlaws were steeped in their work, oblivious to the world and each other. They both snapped to startled attention when the elevator chimed.

The doors opened, and Tony grinned when he saw who it was. “Rhodey! My man! Come in, come in. I was wondering when you’d get here. I need you put in a good word with --”

Rhodey scowled and overrode Tony’s joviality. “Tony, SHIELD has a warrant out for your arrest. Do you realize how serious this is?”

Tony just spun in his swivel chair and shrugged carelessly. “SHIELD will very shortly be a non-issue for me.”

“Yeah, and the way I heard it, you’re going to make the American government into a similar ‘non-issue.’”

“That’s the plan.”

“That’s treason.”

Tony frowned at Rhodey when he realized how much contempt his friend had for his brilliant plan. “No, see, you’re looking at this from completely the wrong angle. It’s not like I’m going to kill anybody.”

“Tony, just turn yourself in already. This is --”

Tony rolled his eyes and turned back to his work. “Here we go...”

“No, Tony, I’m serious. You don’t think anyone will die because of what you’re doing? You don’t seem to realize the the chaos you can cause by changing the balance of power with the flip of a switch. You can’t keep doing this. You can’t play god and just keep thinking it doesn’t come with consequences.”

Tony spun to face him and stood. “No one cares if I play god as long I’ve got some bloodthirsty government agency backing me! Now I don’t, and suddenly I’m the bad guy? I’m just trying to do what’s right.” In a softer voice, Tony added, “Rhodey, come on. I don’t need a lecture, and I don’t need time to get my mind right. I need you on my side.”

Rhodey backed away, shaking his head. “You’ve lost perspective, Tony. You’ve gone too far. I can’t help you with this. Pepper, have you tried to talk some sense into him yet?”

Pepper looked back sadly. “Rhodey, I don’t think we have many options at this point. If Tony turns himself in now, do you really think they’ll just let him go with a slap on the wrist?”

“And what happens to the suit?” Tony added. “Has it occurred to you that the whole reason behind those warrants is to leave my tech undefended?”

“Your plan is insane, Tony. You don’t want to go to jail? Fine. Do something else. Run away.” Rhodey pointed at the screen displaying Tony’s designs. “Don’t do this. And if you do, don’t ask me to be a part of it.”

Tony took a step forward. “Hey, they brought this fight to me. How is it a bad thing that I can win before they have time to draw and before anyone gets hurt?”

But Rhodey was walking away. “I’ll show myself out.”

“I want my suit back,” Tony snapped.

Rhodey stepped into the elevator and turned to press the button for the ground floor. “Take it. I don’t need it. I have a country,” he said, and disappeared behind the closing doors.

The War Machine suit was delivered to the tower later that day, and Rhodey did not contact them again.

Dressed in the business garb of a Stark employee, it was easy as breathing for Loki to talk his way past the reception desk and up the first few floors of Stark Tower. He ran into trouble at floor ten, when he went to switch elevators and the new elevator had additional security such that when he pressed the button it buzzed rudely, blinked red and informed him that he didn’t have the proper clearance.

Not terribly hard to go on from there. There was a woman working at a nearby desk who was now staring at him. Loki decided to convince her that he had been summoned by Tony Stark, and there was some sort of malfunction or misunderstanding in the security system. To save time, he cast a spell to make her more susceptible to persuasion, moving his hands just so and--

ALERT! ALERT! THERE IS AN UNAUTHORIZED MAGIC USER IN THE TOWER. ALERT...

There were flashing lights and loud alarms. When everyone looked up from their work to stare, Loki’s hands were still gesturing with his failed attempt at magic.

So much for going unnoticed.

Loki tried magic again, this time to hide himself, but the spell disappeared the moment it left his hands, ripped away like paper in a strong wind. If Fury had warned him about the magic detection, this could have all been ridiculously easy. Instead, it was merely ridiculous.

The workers rose from their seats and lined up nervously but neatly to evacuate the floor, and Loki couldn’t help but be impressed with the training that must have been required to ensure that moments like these went so smoothly. But he quickly shifted his attention to the security personnel moving to surround him, guns raised.

Loki raised his arms in a gesture of surrender, eyes sweeping across the semicircle of guards measuringly.

Then he moved. He’d disarmed three opponents before the first shot hit him near the right shoulder, and more shots followed. The metal bullets proved less than deadly, but without his armor they hurt, leaving bloody bruises where they hit their mark.

Loki was swearing by the time he took down the last guard, a young woman with excellent aim who was responsible for half of his smarting bruises.

Out of breath and searching the floor for an escape, he spotted the red and gold of Iron Man outside the window and swore again.

Stark blasted away the window glass and flew in, office papers scattering from desks as he passed. He landed, and the metal surfaces of his suit shifted to reveal innumerable projectiles that looked far more creative and unpleasant than bullets, all aimed at Loki.

Loki raised his arms amicably again. “I believe now is your cue to demand to know how I got past your security.”

Stark lifted his faceplate. “Oh, I know how you got in. That’s why I have Jarvis guard the high-security floors. He doesn't have a weakness for pretty faces. Except of course mine.”

The voice that had earlier barred Loki from the elevator spoke up again. “You are the very personification of human beauty, Sir.”

“Music to my ears, Jarvis,” Stark said, then addressed Loki again. “Alright pretty boy, you put those hands behind your back real slow while the nice man behind you applies the handcuffs.”

Loki did as he was told and felt the metal cuffs click into place. He tugged his hands apart lightly to test the give in the chain, surprised when he found none.

“Care to tell me who you are and why you stopped by?”

“I was told the residential floor offers an excellent view of the city. Naturally, I chose to find out for myself.”

Taking in the gall of that answer, Tony found himself smiling. “You know, considering how much shorter your lifespan just got, I might be able to arrange that.”

So it was that Loki found himself in the glamorous top-floor-made-dwelling of Stark Tower, hands cuffed behind his back to a very sturdy metal chair which had been securely bolted to the floor just for him, waiting for his captor to return.

When Stark reappeared, now dressed in jeans and a Rolling Stones T-shirt, he was accompanied by a beautiful woman with freckles, golden-red hair and a warm smile. Loki had heard a little about Pepper Potts, but his first impression of her was that she probably served mainly for decoration.

Stark, after a self-indulgent glance at Pepper that reinforced the god’s opinion, turned to Loki and spoke. “You know, I’ve had people try to break into my house with magic before, so I took precautions when I built this place. Funny thing about magic; it turns out arc reactors are great for absorbing that type of energy, and I’ve come up with a way to isolate that effect. Result: you can’t actually do magic in this tower without my say-so. Try, and my building gets a free power boost. Have fun with that.”

Loki absorbed the information quietly, not replying when Stark paused for him to speak.

“So. Rock of Ages. You got a name?”

“Loki of Asgard.”

“Loki?” Stark spun his index finger in the air in searching recollection. “Aren’t you the Norse god of disorder?”

“So I’ve been called.”

“Well, I’m an atheist, so this could get awkward. Tell me, Mr. Of Asgard, what exactly were you planning on doing in my tower?”

“Oh, I think you can guess.” Always better to let the interrogator tell you what he wanted to hear.

“Hm. Another SHIELD lackey trying to steal my tech, slash stop my dastardly plans. Jarvis, hack into SHIELD’s database. Find all the information you can on Loki and anything related to him. Pepper, once that comes through, read up on it, ‘kay?”

“I have to do damage control on the press,” Pepper informed him. “SHIELD just made our arrest warrants public and we need to put on a sympathetic face. After that I’ll see what I can do.”

“Shouldn’t take you five minutes.” Stark pulled her in close for a thorough and warm goodbye kiss. “Work your magic, babe,” he muttered, and watched Pepper go on her way.

Once she was in the elevator, Stark turned back to Loki. “In a few hours, I’ll know all your dirty secrets. Well, she will. Close enough.”

Loki mentally ratcheted up his estimation of Pepper’s influence, and aloud he scoffed at Stark’s words. “If SHIELD knew the half of my dirty secrets, I hardly think I’d be here.”

Stark drew back his head with a slight involuntary smile of surprised fascination. “Sexy and mysterious. Very nice.” He walked around to his bar and picked up a bottle of scotch and two glasses. “Drink?”

Loki eyed the glasses with suspicion. “No, thank you.”

Stark shrugged and poured himself a glass. Then he left the bar, pulled up a chair in front of Loki and sat. “Here’s the thing. SHIELD wouldn't have issued those arrest warrants unless they thought they could follow through. Which means they have some advantage I don’t know about. I hate it when people have that. It’s probably not enough to stop me, but missing variables make things messy. Anything you might know about?”

“And if I don’t answer?” Then Loki smiled. “Oh, tell me you’re going to threaten me.”

“Well, first I was going to appeal to your humanity. The threatening part comes later.”

“My humanity?”

“Not the best choice of words, maybe. But whatever desire you have to do good to the human race. Tell me Loki, have you heard exactly why SHIELD’s been so antsy about me lately?”

“Because you possess power, superior technology, and no notable self-control?”

“I specified lately.” Tony stood again and took a few dramatic steps back, pulling computer displays out of thin air with the manner of one who really is doing a magic trick. “Here’s what they may not have told you.” The displays moved to show plans -- blueprints, calculations, 3D models and animations -- for small machines. Very small, if the labeled measurements held true. “Let me introduce you… to project TIDY. Total Involuntary Disarmament Yesterday.”

“Nanites,” Loki surmised.

Tony pulled up another graphic. “Nanites that can recognize and disassemble any modern weapon, be it metal, plastic, or high explosive. I set them loose on the world, and voilà, no more guns, no more tanks, no more warheads. It’s world peace in bite-sized pieces.”

Loki’s veneer of calm momentarily let slip a touch of genuine shock. “They won’t dismantle your suits?”

“Of course not. My suits aren’t weapons.” Tony frowned. “But try getting a robot smaller than a human cell to understand that delicate distinction. It’s harder than you’d think.”

“You’re going to make yourself the sole military power in the world,” Loki breathed.

“I prefer to think of it as a total world demilitarization.”

“You’re mad.”

Tony sighed sadly. “I’d sort of hoped you would see the elegance of it.”

A smile tugged at Loki’s lips. “Forgive me; that wasn’t an insult. It’s a lovely and elegant sort of madness. But still. Madness.”

Returning to his chair, Tony narrowed his eyes and took a sip of his scotch. “Now I’m starting to think you’ve got a little of that yourself.”

“A little of what?”

“Lovely and elegant madness. I gotta say, it suits you. If I wasn’t in a committed relationship...” Tony looked Loki up and down with a low whistle.

“You so fear your ideas being stolen, yet you would release these creatures freely upon the world?”

Tony shrugged and went back to bragging. “Not a problem. Anyone tries to tamper with them, anyone so much as passes an x-ray through them, they quietly self-destruct. And get this --” Tony grinned proudly at his holographic creations. “Non-toxic. You can actually eat them with minimal side-effects. Unless you’ve got a handgun surgically implanted in your system or something comparably weapon-flavored, but at that point you’ve already got problems.

“Now, I was designing them for specific, targeted strikes. Could have avoided a very not fun tour of Antarctica if I’d invented these little darlings a year earlier. The whole idea of setting them loose in the world was -- yes, admittedly, on the drawing board, but -- totally mostly abstract until SHIELD forced my hand. Yeah, the acronym’s incriminating, but I wasn’t seriously planning to do this in the next five years until they decided to arrest me for… planning to do this.”

“Yes, you’re clearly the victim in this.”

“Okay, I can see the soft sell isn’t cutting it. Here’s the part where I threaten you.” Stark shifted in his chair to place his glass on a nearby table, and leaned in toward Loki. “Either you can cooperate, give me the information I need to keep me and mine safe from SHIELD, or you can take the express route to the bottom floor and we’ll test scientifically whether gods go splat. And in case it’s unclear, the express route is that window over there.”

“You’re lying.”

Tony grinned viciously. “Maybe I’m not.”

“No; I’m a bit of an expert with these things. You’re definitely lying.”

“Okay, yes, but not as much as you might think. Obviously, I’m not going to kill you five minutes after meeting you when you might know something I need.” Stark shrugged apologetically. “Doesn’t mean I’m not going to kill you eventually. I’ve warned SHIELD a few times that bad things can happen to those they send uninvited onto my turf. You might consider giving me a good reason not to make you the consummate proof.”

“Still, you won’t.”

“Why not?”

“You like me.”

“Hm,” Stark said shortly. He stood and retrieved his glass, quick on his feet in a way that spoke of inexhaustible energy. Loki realized that the man before him was actually a little flustered, though he hid it masterfully. “You have fun testing that theory,” Stark said, turning his back to Loki as he walked back to the bar, “I’m having a cell made up a few floors down, too strong for even you to break out of. It should be done by now, so you can just wait down there and think about what you’ve done, while I decide what I’m going to do with you. Hint: if you don’t tell me anything that helps me, it’s not going to be fun for you.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Loki said, as the guards stepped forward to move him.

“Aw, honey, that’s alright; I’m sure enough for the both of us.”

“You know this is going to look like kidnap,” Pepper complained to Tony that evening as they lay in bed, both exhausted and waiting to fall asleep.

“Oh, come on. I caught him breaking into my house. No judge would convict me. Mostly because I’d bribe them, but still.”

Pepper rolled her eyes. “I’m going to try interrogating him before you do anything drastic.”

“I tried that already.”

“Tony, I love you, but you’re not exactly a people person. I bet you just threatened to throw him out of an airplane if he didn’t cooperate.”

“Window,” Tony corrected. “And I am great with people. With exception of people who don’t like me, and they have poor taste. There’s no accounting for that. Besides, he’s my prisoner,” he added with a slight pout.

“Tony.” Her voice turned warning.

“Fine, fine, chat him up. Knock yourself out. But be careful, alright? He’s...” Tony searched for the right words.

“I know. I’ll leave the room if I get in over my head. And thank you.” She kissed his cheek and snuggled closer.

“It’s a bad idea,” he stated, then smiled at her. “And you’re welcome.”